April 29, 2005

Temperature-40.6 C -41.1 F
Windchill-57.5 C -71.5 F
Wind 12.5 kts Grid 14
Barometer 691.1 mb (10212 ft)
Lunch: Hot Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner: Steak
Two days ago we had our first toast sighting. The condition usually occurs in late June or July but some folks are more susceptible than others and it seems our doctor falls in the later category. Early in the day he became very agitated about not being included in the planning of a fire drill and verbally abused some folks as a result. Then in the gym he became even more agitated that I had put music on the stereo. At first I was very apologetic but he kept escalating and I eventually told him that will be enough at which point he took a step at me as if to fight, recovered his senses and continued his tirade. His point was that I was being extremely inconsiderate because I had put music on and it was disturbing his ability to listen to his Ipod. Just for the record the music is nothing new and the rule up until two days ago was if the music isn’t on in the gym feel free to turn it on. I suggested that if he hadn’t wanted the stereo on why didn’t he just plug his Ipod into the stereo so we could all listen. He said he wasn’t that ignorant because he did not want to bother others at which point I asked him if he was calling me ignorant, he of course said no, which really pissed me off because I felt if he could say it, he could own it. Fortunately, another guy in the gym also agreed the doctor wasn’t being very rational and told him so but the Doctor kept his energy focused on me. I realized this was a no win situation put my boots on and left.
Later I became very angry that I was being called inconsiderate by a guy who comes into the gym on a routine basis loads up 5 of our six weight benches/ machines with weights and then suggests that the rest of us work in on the various pieces of equipment between his sets. My wife on several occasions didn’t feel like unloading the weights and instead just gave up on working out. Then the other night he wanted to charge his Ipod before his work out so he unplugged two of our three treadmills to free up a receptacle and did not offer to pull it off power when people wanted to use the equipment. Also in the past weeks has been throwing weights, kicking the medicine balls and making zinger comments to everyone in the gym. After evaluating the situation I began to wonder who the hell is this guy to call me inconsiderate? Any point he may have had was lost on me at that point and I began to understand this guy is most likely feeling the effects of winter and his cheese is sliding of his cracker.

April 26, 2005

Temperature-63.9 C -83.0 F
Windchill-84.5 C -120.1 F
Wind 9.4 kts Grid 62
Barometer 681.0 mb (10591 ft)
Lunch: Mac & Cheese
Dinner: Game Hens
It has been entirely too long between blogs and I apologize to my readers for not keeping things up to date.
This past Friday the station management announced that we would be having a "Safety Standown" on Saturday. I don’t know what had been going on with me but I had been exhausted the entire week. It could have been all the weight training and intervals that I had been doing and the extra time was appreciated since I needed the rest. Around 11:30 am they dismissed us from work and I went to my room and watched the movie "Office Space" and went to bed for about three hours. I then awoke had dinner and went back to bed.
One guy who I consider the "God Father" lead an effort to have a cooked dinner on Saturday night instead of the usual rummaging through the leftover fridge. They made breckie or breakfast for dinner. We had quiche, pancakes, made to order eggs, fruit, yogurt, seven layer dip and sticky buns. After not eating all day and awaking from my nap I gorged myself on all the good food in the chow line.
Sunday I worked on the house design and found that I was making things entirely too complicated. I have since scrapped my design and started over with a much simpler scheme. I want to raise post and beam bents into place and infill the spaces between bents with straw bales. The bents will support the roof load and strawbale walls will support the second floor along with 3 courses of bales above. My new scheme came about as I was drafting a 3D model of the home when I discovered that I had some coordination problems that rendered my design difficult to construct.
Speaking of constructability, I noticed that one of my favorite groups that I must work with did a magazine article talking about what a great job their product is doing here. Following is a question and answer interview regarding the greenhouse along with the truth.

"Inhabitants can now indulge on self-grown, fresh veggies, instead of living off canned and frozen cuisine.
G G director of the controlled environment agriculture program, built a growth chamber that is currently producing lettuce and other goodies. He also works on another chamber that is planned to go to Mars or the moon in a NASA spacecraft."

When the product was delivered to us it was incomplete, did not meet building code and the mechanical systems did not have the capacities required to control temperature and humidity. The entire chamber had to be rewired, all of the pumps replaced and we still await the manufacture of the 3rd tier of racks.

How does it work?
In extreme environments, plants can be grown in controlled rooms without windows, using artificial light sources, GG said.
"We believe that we can grow any crop anywhere, anytime," he said. "What I don't add on there is at what cost."
But despite the high costs of such a project, researchers were in demand for fresh vegetables because it is impossible to maintain any supply during the long winters"
Before this marvel of modern science arrived on station we had a green house in another building that was half the size and yet had yields similar to the new state of the art facility. We were growing crops "anywhere and anytime" long before the new facility.
As a result, the __________________, which supervises research sent out floor plans and wanted people to bid on a green chamber that would fit their needs.
"I guess we were low bidders, we got it. And that's pretty rare for a university,"
The chamber was built at the ___ in the summer of 2003, using ___ requirements of size and electrical power,. It was then tested and the _____ shipped the chamber.
PS, owner of _________________, lived and worked at the _____ in previous years, and was the primary designer and builder of the green chamber.

It is true that it is rare for a University to win a competitive bid contract except when said University is told what price to beat and Big R is told you will use said university in the construction.
No the chamber was built here and never tested before shipping because the primary designer was stonewalling the job in hopes of having the opportunity to assemble the project on site rather than on the university campus. Big R scheduled three different site visits during construction and no noticeable progress had occurred between visits. Big R had to ship the chamber incomplete and untested to the site so that the government milestone could be met.

Makin' it grow
The plants had to grow from sterile seeds because it is illegal to import soil and live plants, Therefore, all the plants grow hydroponically, which means they grow in a nutrient solution without soil.
A glass wall divides the chamber and the real growth room, where the plants get warm lights, humidity and greenery.
There is also a sitting area where folks can, "play cards, read a book and watch the plants grow,"
The growth chamber not only produces veggies, but also has a positive psychological effect on people at the pole, because they do not see sunlight during the long winter.
Hypothetically, 10,000 heads of small lettuce could be grown in the costly $500,000 chamber annually, but the residents also grow herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers in it,
"We provided a product that solves problems down there, and we will see in the future how well it works."
Reaction to the growth chamber reached from "We hate this piece of junk" to "This is great," but equally important is that the client was satisfied with the project and wants a longer-term relationship with the program.

The above is creative writing at its best! I don’t know where to start but I think I will make it short. Big R wanted desperately to cancel the contract and finish the chamber using their own engineering and outside consultants but were forced to keep and maintain a contract with the university at the direction of the government. They are neither helpful nor proactive and we still don’t like the piece of junk.

NASA dreams
The Mars growth chamber is right now "nothing more than a demonstration" and unsupported by NASA.
"It looks like a long sausage, about 18 feet long and about 8 feet in diameter, so a person can stand up in it," he said. "There are several rows in which we currently grow lettuce."
The chamber has almost no structure, except for the end pieces. Held together by cables, which keep it from blowing away, the chamber utilizes a fan, which blows the plastic shell up like a balloon.
This structure will help astronauts inflate and deflate it as desired and then pack it into a small piece.
There is an important connection between the green chambers. It is possible to test the Mars chamber at the bottom of the planet because the environment there is the closest analog on Earth to the Mars. Both have very low temperatures and high, dry winds.
"We are working with the government and NASA to get a demonstration down there,".
The Mars and ________ programs were "a unique way to demonstrate our capabilities, raise the flag, so to speak there is only one _________."

Well I hope they learned their lesson and choose to include the other departments in the engineering and don’t keep all the intellectual opportunities in the AG department. If they had included the engineering and architectural schools in chamber I suspect the project would have been more trouble free.

April 20, 2004

Temperature-51.1 C -60.0 F
Windchill-73.7 C -100.6 F
Wind 17.3 kts Grid 9
Barometer 682.3 mb (10542 ft)
Lunch: Mexican Chicken
Dinner: Some egg and vegetable thing and a protein shake.

Today I received the following message and became quite excited that we were having a six month party:

"This Friday will mark the halfway point for the people who arrived here on the first plane! Come join the celebration of this milestone, no matter how far along you are in your incarceration here. Slushies will hit the road and will be held in conjunction with the party in the Galley.
This will be a BYOB event - the ARO boys will provide the snow so please bring your favorite slushie mixer or beverage of choice. Hor d'oerves will be provided.
If you'd like to help out in the preparation and/or cleanup, please let us know.

About ten minutes later the following arrived:

"You all know I have to say something.....
Please remember the next day is a normal work day, so please don't extend the party late into the evening. We expect everyone to be at work on time and in decent shape the next morning."

Thanks Dad!
We are never done working and just think next summer they might go to 12 hours a day 6 days a week. That will be fun!

In the past week I received two emails asking for my advice for people who are thinking about coming here next year. One was a married couple and the other was an officer who just finished serving in Iraq. The married couple wanted some advice about what it is like to be married, and how they might prepare themselves for their year. The other is thinking about accepting what I think can be the most difficult position on station and how she might prepare herself. I feel there is nothing I could say to these people that would adequately prepare them for the experience. My two years have been very different from one another, with last year being the most difficult. The station management was ill prepared for the personalities they encountered and as a result the end of season psychiatric evaluations indicate the worst year since they started keeping records and some of those years included deaths and medivacs. This year is very different but if I may borrow a line from a movie "life is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you are going to get." It is so dependent on who is here!!
Oh yea my wife’s Dad is fine and will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow.

April 19, 2004

Temperature-57.3 C -71.1 F
Windchill-84.0 C -119.2 F
Wind 21.7 kts Grid 15
Barometer 673.0 mb (10893 ft)
Lunch: Jambalaya
Dinner: Salmon
Well personal crisis has found me and my wife here. We recently discovered my father in law is having heart trouble and put off seeing the doctor. My wife begged and begged him to go but he refused. Recently he has been showing symptoms of heart failure and the early signs of heart attack and with the aid of the doctor here she was able to talk him into going to the hospital. Her days are spent between moods of fear, frustration and hopelessness as little bits of news come trickling in. Personal crisis here is so debilitating because there is so little that can be done. We have very little phone service and what we have is occurring during the night in the northern hemisphere so communications with family usually means waking them during the night. We also have so little to keep our minds busy that a crisis consumes our every thought. My wifes evening has been spent in front of the phone waiting for word about how things are going in the hospital. She called home six times today and she calls about every half hour to see how things are going. I feel so badly for her!

April 18, 2005

Temperature-66.3 C -87.3 F
Windchill-84.0 C -119.2 F
Wind 8.5 kts Grid 66
Barometer 671.6 mb (10947 ft)
Lunch: Sandwich bar (really tasty vegetarian sandwiches)
Dinner: Tofu Loaf and a run in with the cook for trying to get some salad.

Last Tuesday we had a showing of a German movie called Das Experiment. Following is a synopsis: "The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority." Pretty good movie but it left me feeling a little disturbed because I felt this kind of scenario could be played out here if the wrong person were put in charge. Just for grins I thought I would include the job posting for site manager below:

Job Summary:Responsible for assisting the Area Manager and Area Manager, Assistant in management of Area Operations and Station Services and any other station supported non-science camp/facility. Specifically deploys as the senior winter manager for the full austral winter season. Serves as the Point of Contact in coordination and responsibility for those elements of functional support divisions deploying during the Winter-Over period. Ensures station operations provide responsive and appropriate levels of support to all program participants on the station. Interacts as appropriate with NSF representatives and other support entities.
EDUCATION: High school diploma with 3 to 5 years of supervisory experience minimum. Bachelor's degree in a science, engineering, or business discipline preferred.
CERTIFICATIONS AND/OR LICENSING REQUIREMENTS: None required.
TRAINING: None required.
EXPERIENCE: A minimum of five years of experience in a management, research, or field operations role. Departmental supervisory experience required. Career record must include the demonstrated ability to work with, and independently manage, a multiple skilled work force. Knowledge and software experience in the areas of project management, word-processing, spreadsheets, and maintenance/inventory helpful.

The qualifications, education, experience and training seem kind of light for a job that has so much responsibility, Yikes. I sure would hate for a bully type to end up with the job. Thank goodness our site manger is qualified.

Yesterday was our day off and it was nice to have some time to finish up some personal projects. I finished my second set of wardrobe shelves, drafted a structural plan for my cabin and made granola. If anyone is interested in eating like those of us at the bottom here is the recipe:
5lbs 4oz rolled oats
2 cups wheat germ
2 cups poppy seeds
4 cups sesame seeds
4 cps sunflower seeds
8 cps almonds whole
5 cps salad oil
3 cps honey
1 cup maple syrup
3 tbs vanilla
6 tbs cinnamon
3 tbs almond extract
3 tbs orange zest
8 cps craisins
Combine all ingredients in a large Hobart mixing bowl, mix throughly. Spread in a thin layer on 3 or 4 sheet pans, bake at 325 degrees. Stir granola and rotate the pans in the oven after 15 min, then again 10 minutes later. Bake until a rich, medium to dark brown. Once cool stir in the craisins and eat.

April 15, 2005

Temperature-52.6 C -62.7 F
Windchill-66.5 C -87.6 F
Wind 7.5 kts Grid 47
Barometer 676.1 mb (10776 ft)
Lunch: Grilled Cheese With Tomato Soup
Dinner: Steak

Ever had one of those days where it just seems like nothing is going to go wrong and then in the last ten minutes if just falls apart. Well that was my day.
This morning after my first good nights sleep this week, I awoke brushed my teeth and found the galley had cooked my favorite oatmeal. It is a seven grain mixture of oats, flax seek, sunflower seeds, wheat and two other grains that I haven’t identified. I then went to work and discovered that during the night a control panel had lost power and science was running its heaters and coolers at the same time. Luckily I found an electrician and we made short work of the problem. The breaker in the panel had tripped and killed the power to the panel. Then several other problems were brought to my attention and I was able to identify simple fixes in each case. I then spent the afternoon doing a bunch of busy work that had been assigned to me by camp centennial. By 4:00 I was feeling pretty good because I had managed to accomplish so much instead of spinning my wheels. The head of our division had arranged an FAC and we all left work an hour early to enjoy some beers and socializing. I stayed and drank a few beers and then returned to my desk to check my email and inside was a political hot potato. It was a message from our client basically putting me on the spot for something that his quality control agent had noticed and hadn’t bothered to tell me so I was caught off guard. I just shook my head, turned of my computer, left it for another day and told myself "only six more months".

This year I have a workout partner who totally kicks my ass. I have never had a girl trainer before but she pushes me harder than any of my past partners. Every night I leave the gym just spent and the next morning I am so sore that lifting my cereal spoon is a chore. I hope she continues to kick my ass throughout the winter.

April 14, 2004

Temperature-45.2 C -49.4 F
Windchill-62.0 C -79.6 F
Wind 13.9 kts Grid 5
Barometer 678.2 mb (10696 ft)
Lunch: Turkey Pot Pie
Dinner: Green Chili Burritos

This week is shaping up to be a good week. Yesterday was my birthday and my significant other made enough of my favorite cake for everyone. It was fun to watch people take a small piece and then come back a few minutes later for a bigger piece and then back again. The cake is from a recipe my grandmother developed and it contains large quantities of vodka and kahula with frosting that also contains large quantities of vodka and kahula. Obviously when the cake is cooked all the alcohol evaporates but all the flavors are left behind. One German gal had five pieces. I am not sure what I enjoyed more, watching people eat the cake or enjoying a piece for myself..
Also my significant other arranged a party which I only expected a few people to show but turns out over 20 participated in the festivities. We all stayed up late on a school night and we looked it this morning. I felt very rough and a sign was posted on my office door to stay out because of my beer farts. Yuk!
My mother mailed a box of gifts to open throughout the year and inside were two gifts for my birthday. One was a new fleece sweat suit and the other was a sweater. Both were nice additions to my wardrobe. I also was given a copy of the book "The Giving Tree" which made me cry when I read it and some chocolate peanut butter truffles.
It was a very good birthday indeed!
Earlier in the week I moved into my new office. I love it. I have plenty of light, I can turn up my stereo and I have enough space to spread out. The only down side is that it is located in the construction zone so I have to be sure to wear my safety glasses. My previous office was in a cubicle farm in the computer lab where it was kind of dark and noisy. I enjoyed the view from the window when it wasn’t covered with card board but after sitting there for over a year I felt like I needed a change.
On Monday I was bored one afternoon and helped the sheet metal worker build duct fittings. I had a good time cutting, bending and welding the metal into the shapes. I suspect I will have to do more later because it was so much fun

April 11, 2005

Temperature-53.7 C -64.7 F
Windchill-74.4 C -101.9 F
Wind 16.9 kts Grid 6
Barometer 677.7 mb (10715 ft)
Lunch: French Dip
Dinner: Crab Cakes

Today I was listening to my favorite podcast, Coverville when the song "One is the Loneliest Number" came on and it made me think about life here. Even though I have friends I could never say something to them that I would not want the entire community to hear. After all we as human beings are only capable of so much self discipline and nothing tests our character more than a secret. In real life I have a counselor where I can talk about my life, where I can vent and I can talk about incidents and how I felt. But here there is none of that and finding a friend that I can really confide in is rare. The last time I was here my friend "J" helped, I could tell him anything and he was like a vault. It went in and never came out and when I was venting he realized I was venting and just let it go. I never realized what having a friend like that meant.

I wonder if cliques form because of the reduced opportunities to say what is felt. After all it is only a matter of time before the wrong thing is said to the wrong person and suddenly everyone here knows what was said and suddenly I am on the outside looking in. To me it feels very much like high school and many times the friends I chose there were facing similar circumstances as I, and we built a friendship based on our commonalities. We formed a clique and anyone that was different from us became the enemy and we talked "shit" about them. I wonder if there existed the opportunity to talk confidentially to a professional if some of the stress could be alleviated and the community would function with fewer cliques and more harmony? There is a condition here that we call "toasty" where people become very short with one another and I wonder if some of the symptoms aren’tincurred from the stress of holding so much inside?

April 09, 2005

Temperature-57.1 C -70.8 F
Windchill-75.2 C -103.4 F
Wind 11.3 kts Grid 34
Barometer 675.8 mb (10787 ft)
Lunch: Tuna & chicken curry wraps
Dinner: Pizza
Last night I wrote a blog and was not able to publish it because blogger had taken the site down for maintenance. I was hoping to have something new for my readers today but no dice.

Today was something! Yesterday VI1 agreed during a meeting to install some meters on G4 along with a bypass. He was resistant to doing the bypass and installed the meters without the them behind my back. When the meters worked he thought he was going to be hero but found out that sometimes it is "better to do or die than to ask who or why". He was reprimanded and "written up" for disobedience which will be taken out of his end of season bonus. My boss and I debated having him install the bypasses during his time off but decided against it because we wanted to put the whole thing behind us.
The meters were installed at the direction of Camp Centennial and I scheduled the work against my better judgement. I felt that the meters were not the best solution and with CC’s past record of selecting and installing different meters to monitor fuel usage in the power plant I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. G1 thru 3 have had four different meters installed and none of them worked but starved generator of fuel causing them to run lean. They eventually removed the guts from the meters to fool the designers and decided against metering altogether. When I was told that I was to install meters on G4 I decided I wanted a bypass around the meter which VI1 decided was "stupid". Well engineering never told operations about their desire to meter the fuel usage in G4 but ordered the meters, shipped them to the bottom of the earth and directed me to put them in without a word to operations. Today the power plant operator mentioned to his counter part at CC that the meters had been installed and he blew a gasket. The rest of the day was spent on the phone doing damage control with the eventual outcome of VI1 removing the meters on his day off. If he had listened we could have turned a valve handle and the whole "crisis" would have been adverted. What a dumb ass!
I think the above discussion is important because it shows two problems with the operation of this place. One construction does things without ever letting operations or the owner know which, most of the time causes crisis’ that I often have to deal with. The other is the cowboy mentality where people think they know best without having the whole picture and doing it the way they think it ought to be done which also causes crisis I have to deal with. I often think of my friend Greg who is a fireman and wonder what it is like to put out fires but then again if it is anything like the fires I deal with it doesn’t sound that glamorous.

April 08, 2005

Temperature-56.2 C -69.2 F
Windchill-76.2 C -105.2 F
Wind 14.5 kts Grid 25
Barometer 673.4 mb (10878 ft)
Lunch: Gross Chicken Sandwiches
Dinner: Flank Steak
Another controversy sprung up today and I thought it was a great opportunity to show how petty things become over time. When the sun went down the maintenance personnel removed some of the hall lights. I for one enjoy having a dimly lit corridor outside my room because when I get up during the night to pee I can open my eyes to see where I am going and the distance between my room and the restroom is just far enough that my eyes can adjust. I guess the doctor did not like the change on the premiss that brightness helps us overcome seasonal affective disorder. He raised some hell involving Camp Centennial and suddenly they are mandating the lights remain on. Everyone was pretty strung out about the whole thing and it became the topic of conversation during lunch and dinner. A sign was created and hung on the berthing corridor doors saying "To leave the lights alone because Camp Centennial wants them on and isn’t worried about the energy usage." (Someone on my floor is a genius and covered the lights with some screening that filters the light to about the same brightness as before but the lights are still on so who can complain.) I could understand mandating the lights remain on if it weren’t for that the galley and other corridors are kept dark. So why the importance on berthing hall lights and nothing else? Sometimes I find it is best not to ask why but just blog about it and move on to the next day.

April 06, 2005

Temperature-54.5 C -66.1 F
Windchill-71.2 C -96.2 F
Wind 10.3 kts Grid 13
Barometer 675.7 mb (10791 ft)
Lunch: Burger Day
Dinner: Orange Chicken

Do I ever have a case of the blahs! This week they put the card board over the windows and now the outdoors seems pretty foreign. I went for a short walk today and as I was walking outside it occurred to me that I had know idea what the weather was like. Surprisingly it was pretty warm and not very windy, the lighting was just a bit darker than dusk. I sense that everyone is beginning to understand the long haul from sundown to sun up.

April 04, 2005

Temperature-44.1 C -47.3 F
Windchill-64 C -83.2 F
Wind 16.3 kts Grid 006
Barometer 680.7 mb (10599. ft)
Lunch: Turkey Wraps
Dinner: Catfish (Yuck!)

I must say it was an outstanding weekend. I was able to get some rest, finish some projects and workout. The time off was well needed at came at a good time. Ordinarily on a long weekend there are no meals but this weekend some of the community stepped up and made meals for everyone. On Saturday morning Clayton and Steve made breakfast burritos and then that evening Alan made Mexican Food. Then the next morning the Plumbers made brunch. It was really nice to have the added meals since the leftover fridge over the past weekends has not yielded much to eat and I went to bed hungry on most Sundays.

Today was Monday and it was hard to get out of bed after relaxing for two days. Fortunately, camp centennial is a day behind us so email and frustration were at a minimum making Monday one of the better work days. Also the morning cook became the lunch cook and the lunch cook became the breakfast cook meaning the lunch took a turn for the better. The Crazy Canadian is a remarkable cook, he is only 22 but makes simple meals that are fantastic. Today he made the best lunch I have had since arriving, it was nice change from the fried food festival as of late.

I learned today that one girl lost someone very close to her and she is quite depressed. She is usually the life of the party, always at the blending making mixed drinks for anyone who want one and it is really out of character to see her down. My grandmother died during my previous winter and it was really tough being here when I wanted to be around family and grieve. It hurt badly with life just going forward as usual and nobody to help process what happened. I hope she takes the time to grieve and is able to say goodbye in a way that helps her get closure.

April 03, 2005

Temperature-49.6 C -57.3 F
Windchill-71.40 C -96.40 F
Wind 16.6 kts Grid 359
Barometer 681.7 mb (10563. ft)
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
Dinner: Left Overs

I have been reading a book about owning a home mortgage free. It is pretty amazing seeing how little the case studies spend on their homes. I am also surprised the majority of the worlds people own their own homes and only the North American middle class enslave themselves with mortgages. Meaning they spend 50% of their annual salary paying for housing and spend 5 months earning the money to pay their taxes, leaving the average family about 3 months of income to spend for recreation, food and other incidentals. I have begun to believe we have all been sold a lie. Growing up we are told work hard and buy a house and trade up every 3 to 5 years, the American dream. After doing the math it appears the only people getting the dream d are the banks, leaving the rest of us to work jobs we don’t like to give our money to Uncle Sam and the bank.
The author set up his own community of owner builders and sold the property to people wanting to become part of the mortgage free. They usually build small homes that are environmentally friendly and when they get stuck with some detail of the construction their neighbors having already gone through the process are able to provide their knowledge. Some couples were as young as 25 years old and they were able to start the process with as little at $9,000. I can’t imagine the opportunities these people have in regards to their lifestyles. The book is very inspiring.

Shameless Commerce:
I learned last week that a picture of me holding a product called Sinufix is going to be used in their latest international advertising campaign. I used the product the last time I was here and they gave me some for free this time. I find it helps keep my sinus moist and it keeps them from bleeding due to the dryness, cold and altitude fluctuations.

April 03, 2005

Temperature-49.6 C -57.3 F
Windchill-71.40 C -96.40 F
Wind 16.6 kts Grid 359
Barometer 681.7 mb (10563. ft)
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
Dinner: Left Overs

I have been reading a book about owning a home mortgage free. It is pretty amazing seeing how little the case studies spend on their homes. I am also surprised the majority of the worlds people own their own homes and only the North American middle class enslave themselves with mortgages. Meaning they spend 50% of their annual salary paying for housing and spend 5 months earning the money to pay their taxes, leaving the average family about 3 months of income to spend for recreation, food and other incidentals. I have begun to believe we have all been sold a lie. Growing up we are told work hard and buy a house and trade up every 3 to 5 years, the American dream. After doing the math it appears the only people getting the dream d are the banks, leaving the rest of us to work jobs we don’t like to give our money to Uncle Sam and the bank.
The author set up his own community of owner builders and sold the property to people wanting to become part of the mortgage free. They usually build small homes that are environmentally friendly and when they get stuck with some detail of the construction their neighbors having already gone through the process are able to provide their knowledge. Some couples were as young as 25 years old and they were able to start the process with as little at $9,000. I can’t imagine the opportunities these people have in regards to their lifestyles. The book is very inspiring.

Shameless Commerce:
I learned last week that a picture of me holding a product called Sinufix is going to be used in their latest international advertising campaign. I used the product the last time I was here and they gave me some for free this time. I find it helps keep my sinus moist and it keeps them from bleeding due to the dryness, cold and altitude fluctuations.

April 03, 2004

Temperature-49.6 C -57.3 F
Windchill-71.40 C -96.40 F
Wind 16.6 kts Grid 359
Barometer 681.7 mb (10563. ft)
Breakfast: Biscuits and Gravy
Dinner: Left Overs

I have been reading a book about owning a home mortgage free. It is pretty amazing seeing how little the case studies spend on their homes. I am also surprised the majority of the worlds people own their own homes and only the North American middle class enslave themselves with mortgages. Meaning they spend 50% of their annual salary paying for housing and spend 5 months earning the money to pay their taxes, leaving the average family about 3 months of income to spend for recreation, food and other incidentals. I have begun to believe we have all been sold a lie. Growing up we are told work hard and buy a house and trade up every 3 to 5 years, the American dream. After doing the math it appears the only people getting the dream d are the banks, leaving the rest of us to work jobs we don’t like to give our money to Uncle Sam and the bank.
The author set up his own community of owner builders and sold the property to people wanting to become part of the mortgage free. They usually build small homes that are environmentally friendly and when they get stuck with some detail of the construction their neighbors having already gone through the process are able to provide their knowledge. Some couples were as young as 25 years old and they were able to start the process with as little at $9,000. I can’t imagine the opportunities these people have in regards to their lifestyles. The book is very inspiring.
Shameless Commerce:
I learned last week that a picture of me holding a product called Sinufix is going to be used in their latest international advertising campaign. I used the product the last time I was here and they gave me some for free this time. I find it helps keep my sinus moist and it keeps them from bleeding due to the dryness, cold and altitude fluctuations.

April 02, 2005

Temperature-65.9 C -86.5 FWindchill-87.2 C -125 F Wind 9.6 kts Grid 064Barometer 678.4 mb (10687. ft)
Breakfast: Burritos
Dinner: Mexican Fish
I want to say I love two day weekends. It is so nice to have two days to do as I please, sleep in, work on some personal projects and hang with my friends. I just can’t say enough about how nice the additional time is. Yet some people find the two day weekend a bit too much responsibility and just don’t have enough self control to manage the time productively. This afternoon I heard rumors about what had occurred the night before but when I checked my email the rumors were confirmed.
"Last night someone pulled one of the exit signs out of the ceiling on the second floor. That's a little more than wear and tear. I'm asking whoever did this to step forward and take responsibility. This means let me know if it was you then fix it, if it is something you can put back to the original condition, or pay someone to do it for you. I expect the same for anything that gets damaged on station due to a careless act. I expect everyone living here to take ownership in the station and treat it well.
Secondly and much more disturbing, yesterday one of our fellows brought to my attention that $60 and a pay stub were stolen from his room between last Tuesday and Friday night. The $60 happens to be the exact amount won at a poker game. I'm not sure why a pay stub would also be taken, but I can make a couple of assumptions. It is not tolerable to go into another persons room and take property. Both items need to be returned. You may put the stolen property in an envelope and put it on my desk. Theft does not happen often, especially in the winter. This is not only taking something from a friend, but also violating the trust we have with each other. If the person is found out we will not go lightly and the person will no longer be allowed here. I don't think I can be any clearer than that.
Everyone needs to consider their own behavior and the effect it has on others on station. If this is done we should have a pretty good winter. To me, being here is a privilege I don't take lightly and I hope everyone else feels the same way."
I also learned today that W2 is suspected of trashing the smoking lounge on two occasions and was moved from his previous housing to a new location where he could be better watched. I wonder if this is the same person who was puking while a friend of mine was taking a shower. If so W2 is off the wagon, bummer!!!
I suspect it will be a cold day in hell before we see another two day weekend outside the once a month schedule. So I had better scale back my personal projects because I will not have time for them. Last season they worked the crews like dogs, leaving them no time for recreation and I fear that paradigm will take hold and will become the norm this season also.
I really don’t understand these freaks, they look like us and they seem like nice guys but when the get some alcohol in their blood, they just turn into a different species and become a problem for us all. The really troubling fact is I have no idea who they are and when they are most likely to act. I wish there was a way to put these people under some kind of light where they glow green and we can weed them out quickly and they never get here. We don’t have treatment programs, prisons or courts and little can be done with them once they are here where they become problems for us all.

April 01, 2005

Temperature-64.8 C -84.5 F
Windchill-84.90 C -120.8 F
Wind 8.6 kts Grid 084
Barometer 679.2 mb (10655. ft)
Lunch: Honey Dipt Chicken
Dinner: Pizza

Today’s controversy: The dishwasher and electricians have an ongoing feud and today it hit critical mass. W0 and VI1 decided to move the condiments that the electricians use around the galley as a prank but instead of taking credit for it, they blamed it on the dishwasher. The electricians then pulled a prank on the dishwasher and he retaliated by filling the electricians table with Tabasco sauce leaving no place for them to eat. The electricians then printed signs saying the dishwasher did not want any help and that he had accepted a bet for 5 cases of beer that he could do his job for one day without help, so please leave your dish and he would take care of it.
At every meal a bus tub of soapy water is placed in the dish room window and everyone is expected to wash his dish and place it in a rack. When the rack is full the last person is expected to run the dishwasher and put the clean dishes away. The intent of the joke was for everyone to start pilling his or her dishes at the window and the dishwasher to be confused. Well the dishwasher stepped up and did it all; in turn the prank was turned back on the electricians. At the end of the day the electricians never paid the beer, because it was a prank and they never intended for him to do all the work. The dishwasher was a good sport and agreed.
Then a third party sent out:
"while we all benefited from Wednesday's free dishwashing at lunch and dinner, we probably do not all know why, or how this occurred.
There are a few conditions you need to be aware of to understand the situation:
1. The dishwasher did neither conceive, create, nor distribute the flyers on the I-will-wash-your-dishes challenge.
2. The individual(s) that did, of course, did not sign their name(s) to it.
3. Having risen to the challenge, and succeeded, the dishwasher has found that anonymity is what the perpetrator seeks to hide behind and does not have the fortitude to rise to the challenge and pay up for having lost the challenge. (the dishwasher is a far greater man than I for having taken on the challenge in the first place, but that is a whole 'nother email.)
Basically, this was a juvenile attempt to humiliate someone publicly that backfired; You know the school yard bully that has been picked on all their lives, and so joins a tree-house-club and takes it out on others. This is the kind of behavior you see in corporate executives, and politicians (lacking integrity, unwilling to take responsibility for one's actions - or even claim it is your own, unable to address a problem with somebody directly).
It is more a part of what is wrong with the world, than what is right with it.
Integrity would call for a coming forward, a humble request to the community for forgiveness, and a paying of the debt incurred. It is quite sad to even have to point out what is wrong here.
Is this what we will be reduced to? It is a sad day indeed for all if it is."
Well the email managed to stir a few folks up which resulted in the following:
"Just to clear some things up.
The No wash wed has no political or even personal grudge behind it. Last week there was a practical joke played on our table involving Tabasco, this was worthy of retaliation. No wash wed was it. I personality was the one who typed up the posters (being the only one who uses that product). I am stepping up now because I find it wrong that people are unjustly calling a friend of mine a coward and a bully.
p.s. he still ain't getting the beer (:"
Which precipitated:
"As stupid as all this arguing is it's still kind of fun.... Just to let the everyone know the Tabasco sauce was there BEFORE anyone sat down.... so it's their own fault for sitting at a table with hot sauce.... as for it being THEIR table I don't see any names on it.... and besides you can never have enough Tabasco!"
Then:
"Hey everybody
It’s been a busy day what with a fire drill and all this chatting. I wanted to take a minute to settle things down and also to thank you all for your help. The "no wash Wednesday" was indeed a joke on me that I thought I’d turn around on the pranksters. It turns out there’s been a lot more talk about this than it probably deserves, and I intend to clear things up with all involved, but one thing I found out is how big a difference you make in my day. A day without any help showed how much you all make a difference in getting the kitchen cleaned up, the dishes put away and keeping our common area an enjoyable place to gather. I skipped my regular lunch and dinner and stayed late to finish everything up on Wednesday. It wasn’t overly hard work, just long. Never have I been as happy for Thursday. I realized I needed to express my appreciation to all who help out regularly and to those who take the few minutes to wash their dishes, rack them and run them through the dishwasher. It may take you five minutes, but all those add up and make my day. So, thanks again."
I think the above string shows some rather interesting things about life at the bottom. When removed from complications of normal lives the mundane is no longer trivial. We don’t have murders across the street, Terry Shaivo starving to death, traffic, George Bush and other troubling news so we tend to get spun up in things that just don’t require that much attention. I suspect when I leave here I will read this again and I will chuckle at both the controversy and our collective state of mind.
"THEIR table", just like high school we all generally sit in the same place everyday. So as time passes we begin to feel that a particular seat is ours and the table belongs to a group. I really don’t understand the behavior but it is really fun to watch when the summer population arrives and starts sitting in "our" seats at "our" tables.